Join the Big Picnic for Hope on Friday 8 May

The Exeter Cathedral community will join people from across the UK, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day by having a picnic at home and sharing their photos on social media.

The Big Picnic for Hope is an opportunity for your household to be part of a virtual get together, to help honour heroes past and present.

Many of us would have been commemoratingthe 75th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May. Families and friends would have been gathering for street parties and celebrations around the UK, which unfortunately is no longer possible.

But even in the current lockdown we can still come together to recognise this date through our ‘Big Picnic for Hope’.

The Big Picnic for Hope also allows us to celebrate the heroes of our new ‘homefront’: those risking their lives, the NHS, carers, delivery personnel, workers across food stores and public transport, and the remarkable collective effort of the nation to stay home and play our own individual part in helping to see this through.

By staying at home we are able to support the new heroes of the COVID-19 ‘conflict’.

Whether you are on your own or with other people at home we are asking each household to have a picnic – indoors or outdoors – and send in your photos to share with us worldwide.

People can also share their ideas for the Big Picnic for Hope: what to bake, what to make, and their own creative ideas online, using the hashtags #bigpicnicforhope and #feed5000, to help inspire others to get involved. This will help everyone get ready to join together on Friday 8 May to share photos of their picnics, and discuss memories and stories of their loved ones past and present in a way fitting of the circumstances we are living through at this time.

Share your photos of your picnic on your social media on 8 May using the hashtag #bigpicnicforhope

You can also support the Big Picnic for Hope JustGiving campaign in aid of the Trussell Trust using the hashtag #feed5000

At the heart of the Big Picnic for Hope is a reflection that around the country many people will not be as fortunate at this time with many struggling to put food on the table. The #feed5000 hashtag reflects the project’s aim to raise £5000 for the Trussell Trust, who support a nationwide network of food banks and provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. With a rise in the number of people who are using foodbanks nationally, and the future uncertain as to how many people will have to adjust to more difficult living conditions around the country, the Big Picnic for Hope aims to ask those who can to donate towards providing another individual or family having food in their house today.

A collaboration of the nation’s cathedrals around the country, including Exeter, have united behind this project to remember heroes from the past and celebrate those of the present day, on the 75th anniversary of VE day. Under normal circumstances, cathedrals around the country would have been a focus for national celebration and commemoration. The 75th anniversary of VE Day in May 2020 was to be no exception with events planned nationwide.